How much for overnight babysitter?

[duvie]

I did a search, but didn't see this question anywhere. Please point me in the right direction if I missed it.

DH and I are going to go away for the weekend-- one night-- and are wondering how much to offer our babysitter.

We pay her $12 an hour for taking care of 16 month old DS. She is wonderful and worth every penny. I am confused about how to figure out how much to give her for an overnight. She will be with DS from 9 am Saturday until early afternoon on Sunday.

TIA!

[stella]

I hope you have a wonderful trip with dh!!

You could start by asking her, but she will probably say "whatever you think" in which case I would ask her if $125 was OK with her. I generally try to pay $100, but you pay a little more than I do hourly.

Our babysitter has said that she doesn't charge me for the time that they are asleep. I don't think that's really fair to her as she is still away from her home and her usual activities, so I try to just pay a flat rate.

What I am proposing is obviously less than $12/hour, but it's kind of like the dfference between working on a contract basis vs. a steady, salaried job. You will make more per hour on a contract basis, but the guaranteed salary can make it worthwhile to take a cut in your hourly wage. Does that make sense?

You have to be careful what you pay now, because eventually, you may want to go out of town for 2 or 3 days and then you won't be able to afford to travel because all your funds will be going to the sitter!
Be careful what kind of precedent you set, but of course, also make sure she's happy with the arrangement!

I am constantly agonizing over this babysitter math stuff!
Good luck figuring it out!

Claire

[duvie]

Claire-
Thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful response. You make some great points and I totally understand what you are saying about a contract vs. salaried job.

Not to be dense, but would the $125 be for Saturday and Saturday night and then on Sunday would I pay her hourly rate? (starting when DS gets up?)

Thanks!

[Wife_and_mommy]

Not Claire but I would do a flat fee for the entire time. I wouldn't worry about paying separately for Sunday.



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